Post-Holiday Blues: Creating A Home You’ll Want To Get Back To

When that day finally comes around – the day you actually shoot off on your holiday – it can be all too easy to just pack the car and run away without a care in the world. You just want to get the hell out of dodge and enjoy that relaxing break you’ve carefully budgeted and been looking forward to for three months and twelve days (at least according to the red crosses on your kitchen calendar). However, running away without a care for the state you leave your home is a surefire way to ruin your homecoming and make your post-holiday blues even more horrendous than they have to be.

Yes, what we are telling you is there are certain things/tasks/chores you should do before packing the car and hitting the accelerator because, well, your future-self will thank you for it. That is because there is nothing worse than coming back from a gorgeous little break to find your house in a state of misery, dirty and messy, with the air con system not working and the smell of stagnant water filling the air.

So, whether you are heading out of town for a week, a fortnight, a month or the rest of the summer, by pulling yourself together and preparing your house in advance you can enjoy a crash back to reality that has a slight cushion to aid you.

So, without further ado, here are the little extra things you should tag onto your packing checklist. Like we said, you’ll be grateful for it when you get back from ‘olidays.

Take Photos Of The Important Things

You’re probably thinking we have finally lost the plot because taking photographs is meant to be part of the holiday experience, not the build up. This is true, but it is also not true. You see, by taking photographs of the important things, you’ll no longer need to carry around a folder with bits of paper that you can (and probably will) lose. We’re talking about taking photographs of all your passports, the labels on your prescription medication, your visas, a utility bill and just about anything else that falls into the ‘important information that I must not lose’ category.

There really is nothing worse than coming back from a holiday – where you got to enjoy the luxuries of room service – to find your home looks like a toddler caught in hurricane ran through it. That is why we urge you to do a tidy up. We’re talking about getting the vacuum out and running a broom across the floor, especially around your coffee tables and all those other crumb-collecting places. This isn’t just about having a home the looks lovely, it is also about protecting your home from any sort of insect party. That would just be the absolute worst. Seriously. Imagine returning home to find a family of ants chilling on your sofa.

Do The Appliance Thing

Yeah, this is something we have all gotten semi-used to over the years. Usually, it is just a matter of unplugging the TV and nothing else, as if we don’t trust the television for some reason. But we recommend you unplug all of your appliance (except the fridge), just in case there is a major storm or some other electrical problem that could make your appliances become somewhat dangerous and risky. But don’t stop there. Get your AC unit serviced by someone like www.vredevoogd.com/ac-repair/, partly so that you can enjoy a nice cool home when you get back and partly because you know you won’t do this when you get back. Oh, and set the boiler so that it is turned off while you are away but turns on the day you are due to return. It’s a great way to save some pennies while you’re away. If you can’t program your boiler, then get yourself a mechanical timer to make it possible.

If you have pets then you probably have a plan in place, such as a kennel that you know and trust, a family member you can call on or a friend that would love to look after your furry friend while you’re away. What you may not have a plan in place for, however, is your plants. If you have a variety that is higher maintenance than a Hollywood Starlet, then you may want to ask a neighbor to do the honors or look at the advice on monarchbutterflygarden.net/survival-tips. Otherwise, just give your plants a good old water right before you leave and then do the same when you return. Voila, your two precious P’s are now as well-looked after as ever.

Tackle The Kitchen. Properly.

If there is one place you should really pay special attention to at this point it is your kitchen. After all, you don’t want to have a cocktail of dirt, mold and yucky smells ruining your return the real-world. So do everything you can possibly think of. Get you and your family to run around the house and collect up any dishes, cups, and mugs, and then load and run the dishwasher. Get your antibacterial wipes out and clean the surfaces. Go through your refrigerator with a fine tooth comb and toss any food that might go bad (or better yet, donate to those who could use it because wasting food sucks). Make sure you take the trash out. And then make sure the garbage disposal bit of your sink is clean. Why? Because the smell of rotting food is just the worst of the worst. Make sure you tighten every set of taps in your home so that you are wasting water through leaks. And then go and get yourself some canned and dry foods to plop in the cupboards so that you know you can cook something when you get back. You don’t want to be hit by that sudden realization that you don’t have any food to eat and that you will have to go out and get something just after enduring a long car trip, a flight and another car journey.

Anyone that has been on holiday before will know just how amazing it is to get back into your own bed after a week or two away. It is about as luxurious and comforting as anything can possibly get… if you plan ahead that is. That means leaving your sheets and duvets and pillows to get some air while you are gone. It means putting fresh sheets down. Leave the doors to your closet open and spray some nice Febreeze in there or something to get it smelling fifty shades of lovely. And, last but not least, make sure your floor is clear. The bedroom has a way of becoming a floordrobe, so make sure you counter this by putting all your to-be-washed clothes into the laundry basket, and all that sort of stuff.

The Bathroom And Beyond

Oh, yes-yes-yes. You need to do some preparations in the bathroom if you are going to get that, ‘it’s good to be back’ feeling. Start off by putting some baking soda down the toilet to stop the smell of stagnant water making your glorious room of relaxation smelling like a public toilet at the service station in the middle of nowhere. Once you have done that, give your shower and bath the quick once over, by which we mean give the fixtures a nice polish or wipe and rinse the tiles so that they are glistening when you get back and aren’t covered in soap stains and watermarks. It is also worth emptying the bathroom bin and changing over the towels and, let’s be honest, making sure you kids listened by checking they really did turn the taps off with a nice tight twist.

There are certain things you may want to do to lower any risks of your house being targeted while you are away. First things first, if any police officer with a gold tooth turns up and asks you your plans, remember what happened in Home Alone and tell them your kids are going away, but you’re staying home. Secondly, get some time switches so that a few lamps come on in the evening and make sure you close the curtains so that people come in. The other thing that is really worth doing too is having your post held while you are away because nothing says you’re not home like a mailbox that is overflowing with unopened letters. That is just a fact. And if you have an alarm, make sure it is set. Then lock the doors and windows and get your holiday underway.

We know these tasks and chores don’t exactly sound like the most wonderful of things to do before jetting off on your holiday, but they will make your return so much nicer and allow you to just slot back into your homely life with ease and comfort. The post-holiday blues are a thing, and this will help you nullify them. What’s more, you can get your kids and partner to help you out so that you aren’t doing it all yourself. After all, many hands make light work.